Piston Notes from Vegas

Posted by Chris McCosky (The Detroit News) on Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 5:59 PM
Notes from Vegas

Jonas Jerebko, the Pistons' rookie forward, had some anxious moments on draft night. He went into the draft with a promise from Charlotte that if they drafted him, they would sign him and keep him on the roster. At all costs, Jerebko wanted to play in the NBA this season. Had he agreed to spend another year overseas, he would most likely have been taken in the first round.

Still, on draft night three teams who were picking before Charlotte at No. 40 called Jerebko's agent Doug Neustadt, and said they were taking him. Neustadt successfully talked all three into changing their pick, since they were looking to stash him overseas.

Pick 39 belonged to the Pistons. They, too, called Neustadt and said they were taking Jerebko. Again, Neustadt told them about Charlotte, and how they assured him a roster spot. Joe Dumars, though, told him that he wasn't worried about Charlotte. The Pistons also wanted to keep Jerebko on their roster; that they had no intention of sending him back to Europe.

"Of course, if you have a deal with the team at 40, you don't want to go at 39," Jerebko said. "But it was Detroit and I liked Detroit. I knew it was going to be a good situation."

Here is a quick first impression of these four rookies after watching three days of summer league practice. The rookies are Jerebko, DaJuan Summers, Deron Washington and Austin Daye.

Daye is probably behind the other three right now -- which is expected. His is the least NBA-ready body. But he is smart and skilled, and man, is he long.

Jerebko and Summers are both versatile forwards, but right now, Jerebko looks more like a small forward to me and Summers looks more like a power forward. Both have some finesse and some toughness to their game. It will be interesting to see how they react to actual game situation.

Washington, I have a hunch, is going to be the third shooting guard behind Rip Hamilton and Ben Gordon this year. The Pistons are probably going to move Arron Afflalo.

Washington has a unique game. He's nowhere near as skilled as Jalen Rose, but he reminds a bit of Jalen the way he moves around the court. He looks herky-jerky, but he's deceptively quick and he can get anywhere he wants, it seems. He is an explosive jumper, too. But his forte right now is defense. He has long arms and quick feet and he's pesky.